A Sunlit Patio
by LotusRootsAndBambooShoots
Summary: Some years after the events in Iwatodai, Junpei has a surprise for Chidori, but the trip there may be difficult on her. It's worth it, however.
If there was any sight in the world more beautiful to Junpei Iori than his lover, Chidori Yoshino, he hoped he'd never see it. She was sitting at their kitchen table right now, bleary-eyed from waking up so early, wearing a pair of shorts and an old jersey. Her hair, normally tied up with dozens of ribbons, was let down to fall where it may, further highlighted by a frizzy top layer that formed a sort of halo around her. She was half-asleep and gnawing on toast with apricot jam (homemade, Fuuka-chan had really improved since she started.) and was the most gorgeous woman in the entire world. Junpei couldn't help but sigh a little bit, leaning his head on his hand and his elbow on the table, gazing at her.

She blinked the sleep from her eyes and noticed for the first time the attention he was giving her. "Junpei... you're staring again." she told him, her voice raspy first thing in the morning.

"Mm hm." Was all he had to offer as he refused to stop, that dumb grin he always gets around her firmly on his face.

Chidori smiled and rolled her eyes. "I hope you have a good reason for getting me up at this hour..."

"Course I do. I have a surprise!" He was clearly excited. He tipped left and right in his seat like a kid, making her giggle.

"A surprise? Where is it?"

Junpei lifted his hat to smooth the hair under it. He had grown his hair back out at her request, but it wasn't playing nice with his usual baseball caps. "Pretty far from here, actually. That's why we had to get up so early. But don't worry, cause you're gonna love it. Promise."

Chidori finished her toast and brought her plate to their tiny kitchen's sink. "That means we'll have to drive a long way, won't it...?"

Junpei nodded, a little apprehensive. "I'm afraid so. I really think this will be worth it, but if you're not up for it-"

"It's fine, Junpei." She interrupted. "I'll take some motion-sickness medicine and sleep part of the way. I want to see your surprise."

Chidori had a wide range of health problems, minor and major. If it wasn't damage to her body caused by being a science experiment, it was probably due to Persona suppressant use. She had often had trouble breathing and needed an inhaler, suffered from migraine headaches, seizures, and chronic pain. Motion-sickness from car rides was no small concern as she would become very sick from just fifteen minutes in a vehicle. It had been a tense year after the thwarting of the Fall before the doctors brought the news that she was not in any danger of dying prematurely, before then Junpei was terrified she might pass away before she could live out her second chance at life.

Junpei had been very careful dealing with her after she had awoken with no memories. The last thing he wanted was to even give the impression that they had been romantically involved in her past life, since that would make her feel pressured. It was hard, but he was able to think of her as a friend only all the way up until she outright asked if they had been in love before she lost her memories. He had to be honest with her, of course, but made it clear that it didn't mean she had to be anything to him. But Chidori had already made her decision, and expressed it by pulling him down into a kiss mid-sentence.

After they had dated a while, they both moved into an apartment in Tokyo. Chidori had to admit, she didn't like the city. It was loud. Louder than Iwatodai had been, though she spent most of the time she could remember there in the hospital. Tokyo was full of sounds, of people and of lights, which made her migraines worse when she got them. But Junpei had to be in Tokyo for work, and Chidori wanted to be together with him more than she wanted peace and quiet. She had been happy to accept his offer to move in with him after she was cleared from the hospital.

She finished getting ready for the trip in the bathroom, tying her hair up in a long ponytail and opting for a shirt and pants over one of her usual dresses. She loved her dresses, but they weren't as comfortable as she was going to need to be able to sleep in the car.

Chidori left the bathroom to find Junpei in an action movie T-shirt and jeans, with a pair of duffel bags at his feet and a smaller bag in his hand. "Overnight bags, Junpei?"

"Yep." he stated. "It's gonna be a pretty long drive, and I figured it would probably be better if we stayed there tonight. I got a friend in town, we can stay at his place."

"Did you ask him first?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Shinjiro-senpai owes me a favor anyway." Junpei bent down to pick up both bags.

"Wait, did you get all my prescriptions?" Chidori stopped him, and took her own bag herself.

Junpei handed her an old camera bag. "Right here. You wanna check?"

She unzipped the case and examined each of the little pill bottles inside. It was pretty important that she had everything she needed at all times, or withdrawal could kill her. She smiled at seeing that he had also packed her motion-sickness pills, a couple different over-the-counter painkillers, and a bottle of water and granola bar. Her boyfriend was always doing these things, anything he could to make her feel comfortable. "Everything's here, Junpei."

"Cool." He smiled. "Let's go, I wanna get there while the sun's still up."

* * *

It wasn't common to make long trips by car in Japan unless one was moving, and Junpei certainly didn't want to deal with the hassle of the car tax full time, so the car he was driving now was a rental. The little Suzuki Lapin wasn't really his style but it would do.

He spared a glance at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, seeing that she was still snoozing with her sleep-mask on. Good. They were almost there but he didn't want her throwing up just as they got to the surprise. It might kill the mood.

City had given way to greenery a while ago as they neared the destination. A small mountain town, not too far from that little town where all that crazy stuff with the TV World had gone down, in fact. Junpei pulled down a road lined with newly constructed houses. He slowed down, counting them, until he pulled into the driveway of the one he was looking for and stopped the engine.

"Chidori? Babe, wake up. We're here." He pushed her shoulder a little, gently shaking her back and forth.

It took a couple repetitions but she did eventually inhale sharply and pry her sleep-mask off. Still in a haze from being woken up for the second time that day, she blinked in the light. "Hmm...? We're there...?" She squinted out the windshield, trying to make out what she was looking at.

"Yeah, this is the place, come on." Junpei got out of the car and ran over to her side to help her out, still half-asleep. He opened the back hatch and pulled out their bags too.

"Junpei, is this your friend's home?" She asked, glancing at the bags and then the house. If he pulled the overnight bags out, this must be where they're staying, right?

He didn't answer at first, just walking up to the place and fiddling with the door lock. He turned back to her and grinned broadly, throwing the door open. "Hehe, nope."

Chidori followed him into the house and gasped when she realized it was unfurnished and empty. It still smelled like wood and paint, and everything was fresh and new and had never been lived in. "Junpei, is this... this is the surprise?" It was a little too good to be true.

"Yep!" He half shouted from the new house's kitchen. She followed him in to find he was admiring the appliances. He turned to her, absolutely beaming. "I gotta clarify, I haven't signed on it yet. I wanted to wait until you were here first so we could agree on it. So, whaddya think? Can ya see yourself living here? With... with me, that is...?"

"Junpei... We already live together. You don't have to ask that again." She smiled warmly and embraced him. "I love this house, Junpei. Can we afford it?"

"Of course." He answered. "I mean, my coaching job wouldn't be enough, but with my other job..."

Chidori nodded. Junpei had this other job he did, which was the real thing keeping him in Tokyo. She asked about it of course, but he said it was all classified. All she knew was that occasionally he would have to disappear for days at a time, and wasn't allowed to tell anyone where he was and what he had been doing. She was about eighty percent sure that her long-term boyfriend was some kind of government assassin, but she was fine with it if he was. It's not like it would be anyone she cared about.

"Oh! But wait, I almost forgot to show you the best part! Come on, follow me!" And he made a dash for the back door.

On stepping out the door, Chidori beheld a modest patio and small garden, freshly planted with grass. The patio had a little outdoor table with two chairs. At this time of day, sunlight streamed in and drenched the entire patio, unobstructed.

"So, uh..." Junpei started. "I put these here myself. Figured you'd like a nice place to work on your art."

Chidori sat down at the table and imagined her sketchpad in her hands, the sun at her back and a quiet neighborhood around her. She shut her eyes and listened to all the nothing. Just the distant, quiet sounds of small town life.

"...I want to live here, Junpei. With you." She turned to him with a smile. "I would have liked to come here with you and look at houses, though. You didn't have to make it a surprise."

He scratched the back of his head. "I got a little carried away. Last time I went on a... I went to my other job, I came here and noticed these houses being built. They're kinda western-styled, but when I saw the patio I thought of you. I know you don't like Tokyo much... Still, I shoulda included you on the decision making. We're a couple and I should be acting more like it."

She hummed. "It's fine. I feel we would have come to the same decision. I can't exactly scold you in this beautiful house, anyway..." She leaned back in her seat and focused on the mountain breeze on her face for a moment. "What about your jobs?"

He had been waiting for that question. "Taken care of. I called in a favor or two with an old friend and snagged a coaching job at the school here. As for my other job... I'll need to take a train now when I'm called in, but it won't be too often. I talked it over with my boss, and it's fine. She helped me get the place, in fact."

Seemed that everything was ready, then. "I wish we didn't have to leave it soon. We'll still need to stay in your friend's house since there's no furniture here." Chidori said, frowning slightly.

"Oh right! There's one last thing to show you though. It's down the hall." Junpei took her hand as she got up and held it while he lead her down the hallway to the last door.

Inside was what westerners called a "master bedroom" with an attached bathroom and a walk-in closet. And this room, surprisingly, was fully furnished. A nice, king-sized bed, a flat-panel TV on the wall, a loveseat, table, and a dresser with a full-length mirror beside it. All ready for someone to live in. "I can't take credit for the furniture... Yuka-tan and Fuuka-san did the decorating as an early housewarming present. I got the real-estate company to let me do it cause I got connections, y'know."

Junpei threw his bag on the loveseat. "I mean, obviously we're gonna hafta go back to Tokyo to get our stuff and move it all out here, but tonight we can totally stay here, no need to bother Senpai." He flopped down on the bed, stretching out with his hands clasped behind his head.

Chidori put her hands on her hips, with a wry smile. "So, you haven't signed on the house... but you did fully furnish one of the rooms?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I'm _confident._ Girls like confidence in guys, right?"

She answered by laying down next to him and placing her hand in his. This was going to be their home. The place where they lived their lives. Together. Soon they would bring back what they had in Tokyo and fill out the rest of the house fresh. Once she had her dresses and her art supplies, it would really feel like a home to her. Something she realized she couldn't remember ever feeling.

Although there were things to be done that could make it feel like home right now...

Junpei was surprised when Chidori let go of his hand and rolled on top of him, standing on her hands and knees above him. She grabbed his hat from off his head and flung it away. "I trust," She purred, "You remembered to bring condoms too, _this time_?"

He whined. "That was only one time!" A glare. "Okay, two times. But yes, yes I did."

"Get them."

* * *

AN: I just want them to be happy. This is some meaningless fluff I wrote to improve my mood a little while ago. I feel like I've been focused on Junpei a little much, since most of my ideas are about him, Yukari and Minato, but then I look at the massive amount of material for Akihiko and feel better, so I apologize for nothing.

Also, this is obviously in the P3P continuity, in which both Chidori and Shinjiro can be saved.

I'd also like to say thank you to all my kind reviewers! Your encouragement has kept me writing and I love reading anything you have to say!

EDIT: Thanks for the correction, LeafyDream! Error in paragraph breaks fixed.


End file.
